West Ham keen to sign Joe Allen from Stoke

The midfielder has been linked with a move to east London during January's transfer window in the past few weeks, but the Potters continue to stress they have no intention of selling the Wales international.

Sky Sports News understands David Moyes' top priority is to sign a midfielder this month with Steven N'Zonzi, William Carvalho and Jonjo Shelvey thought to be on his shortlist.

When asked last week about the Hammers making a possible move for 27-year-old Allen, manager David Moyes refused to talk about specific targets.

"I would like to bring in one or two reinforcements," said Moyes. "But every manager will tell you it's not an easy time to do business.

"It's also an expensive month. We'll try and do it but there's no guarantee."

Stoke's under-pressure boss Mark Hughes has insisted Allen is not for sale and he will certainly not want to lose one of his most influential players to one of the club's main rivals in the bottom half of the Premier League table.

Speaking ahead of their game at Chelsea over the weekend, Hughes said: "We can't afford to lose a player of Joe's quality - he is working exceptionally hard for us and we are really pleased with what he is producing for us at the moment.

"We won't be encouraging any bids for any of our key players, especially not in January, that is for certain."